Rising Above Our Rights

By

Reverend Litton Logan

September 9, 2007

Scriptures:

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, ²to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁴When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God ⁵because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. ⁶I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. ⁷I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

⁸For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, ⁹yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. ¹⁰I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. ¹²I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. ¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. ¹⁵Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

²²One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.

Final Greetings and Benediction

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

²⁵The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philemon 1:1--25 (NRSV)

Sermon:

There is much to do about people’s rights in our country, but I fear not as much is said about people’s responsibilities to the society that guarantees their rights. Our culture is replete with the rhetoric of accommodation, mitigation, extenuation, and justification for immoral, cruel, and criminal behaviors. A case in point: Whoopi Goldberg her first day on “The View” defended Michael Vick, the NFL quarter back, and his cruelty to dogs but saying it is a cultural thing to beat, drowns, maim, and kill dogs for sport in the South. Somehow a person’s culture, their family backgrounds, their neighborhoods, their country of origin, their religions give them free passes for cruel, immoral, and criminal behaviors. Incidentally, every time we play the culture card, the race card, the socio-economic card, the religion card, or nationality card to justify a person’s misdeeds we slap in the face every other person who came out of such backgrounds and circumstances and are responsible, moral, contributing members of society.

Another prevailing attitude that gives me great pause is that when people are caught in some misdeed simply saying “Sorry” should be sufficient. To make the offender pay damages, serve time in prison, or make restitution is cruel and insensitive, after all, they said I’m sorry or they’ve found Jesus, what more do you want. Please friends, as Paul will show us in this short book of Philemon, Christian grace and charity should never take from people the consequences of their actions but inform the administration of justice, restitution, and possibly rehabilitation.

The Apostle Paul in the little letter of Philemon gives us insight into a situation where someone has broken the laws of the land and now as a Christian he takes responsibility for his action by trying to put things right. The irony of this story is that the laws that were broken were the laws regarding slavery. Not only that, but the Apostle Paul steps up to the plate and assumes his complicity and responsibility in the matter also.

In the letter to Philemon, the Apostle Paul reveals much about himself and the practical applications of his faith. Furthermore, Paul discloses himself to be a very adept and competent pastor-politician contrary to the popular opinion that he was an untactful, in-your-face kind of guy.

Paul most likely wrote this letter while in prison in Rome around 61 C.E. He addresses this letter to a dear Christian friend and fellow laborer in the Gospel, a gentile named Philemon, who was the overseer of the Lycus Valley house churches at Colossae--modern day Turkey. Paul, we gather from this letter, was responsible for Philemon’s conversion to the Christian faith. Although the letter is written to Philemon, the sly Apostle Paul includes others of significance in his greetings, including Timothy, and he addresses the church in general that meets in Philemon’s home. In so doing, he solicits the good will of prominent members of the congregation and the congregation as a whole on behalf of Onesimus.

Onesimus was believed to have been a run away slave who sought refuge with the Apostle Paul, someone he knew to be a benevolent, Christian person. We do not know the circumstances surrounding why Onesimus ran away or what he did during his escape.

We don’t know if Onesimus was a convert to Christianity prior to running away from his master, Philemon, or if he converted to Christianity during his time with the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul tells us that during the time Onesimus has been with him he has become invaluable to Paul in his ministry and has become like a son to him. Paul in a lighthearted way makes a play on Onesimus’s name, which means “useful”. Paul says that while Onesimus has been gone he may have been useless to Philemon but he has been very useful to Paul. Therefore, it is with great sadness that Paul sends Onesimus back to square matters with his owner and Paul’s dear friend and fellow laborer in the Gospel.

Paul implores Philemon by breaking all social conventions to honor Onesimus’ voluntary return as his slave but also to welcome him back as not only returned property but as a brother in Christ.

I hasten to point out that the Apostle Paul makes no comment pro or con on the matter of slavery. He doesn’t ask Philemon to manumit or free Onesimus. Paul simply writes within the context of slavery being an accepted institution. Even within Judaism slavery was an accepted practice although far more humane and better regulated than in the Greco-Roman culture.

It would have been within Philemon’s legal and social rights to punish Onesimus by beating, maiming, selling, or even killing him for his escape. Not only that, but Philemon had a solid legal case for financial restitution from the Apostle Paul for harboring his run away slave. This is why Paul says that if Onesimus has caused any damage in his escape such as stolen money or property then put that amount to Paul’s account as well as the amount for lost labor during the time Onesimus has been with Paul.

Let me give you a modern day example that I think captures the major dynamics of this story.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A thief with a conscience who broke into a New Zealand home not only returned the stolen goods, but apologized and promised to pay for any damage, media reported on Friday.

The burglar broke into a home in the picturesque South Island tourist town of Queenstown, taking a laptop computer, a camera and a wallet containing a credit card, which he used to buy a basketball and two pair of gloves.

But apparently, the guilt-stricken thief broke into the house for a second time, returning the stolen items and the goods bought on the credit card.

Victim Graeme Glass said he was surprised to find the looted items on a table when he came home and a note in his diary.

"It was sort of an apology for breaking into our home and violating our home," Glass told National Radio. "It's all pretty bizarre really."

The burglar said in the note, “I will pay for the broken window when I have enough money. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.”

Police said they were looking for a male in his late teens or early twenties.

Paul and Onesimus are saying we are sorry; we want to make matters right, and make it up to Philemon. Paul says when I visit with you in the future I will make restitution. Paul as a senior authority within Christianity at the time felt he had the authority to demand or to call in the debt of Philemon’s very salvation to effect humane treatment for Onesimus. However, he did not want to subject Philemon to such authority. Given all of Philemon’s legal and social rights in this matter, Paul instead appeals to Philemon’s Christ nature.

In summary, Onesimus returns to serve Philemon as a willing Christian slave. Paul says he stands ready to assume responsibility for any financial damages or losses. Onesimus and Paul are not throwing themselves on Philemon’s mercy, but rather appealing to his Christ nature.

Neither Paul nor anyone one else in the New Testament tells us what actually happened to Onesimus. We don’t know whether he was punished, sold, maimed, or what. We know Paul didn’t make it back to Philemon’s. Paul, according to the most reliable traditions, was executed in Roman. Therefore, the Christian readers of Philemon are taught three lessons or are given three options in most social, legal, moral, and ethical dilemmas—do the wrong thing, do the right thing, or do the Christ thing.

The Christ thing is to temper each response to injury, offense, or crime whether as individuals or collectively as a people or a nation with the love of Christ. A love that dictated Jesus goes to a cross to be true to God’s claim on his life. A love that caused him to lay down his life for those whom he loved. A love that asked forgiveness from God for those who were within their legal rights to crucify him. A love that pronounced God’s benediction on a thief rightfully executed for his crimes against others.

In closing, I remember reading a story a few years ago about a Christian man and his wife who came home one evening to find a young man burglarizing their home. The man apprehended the young thief and held him until the police arrived.

As the case went to trial, it was learned that the young man had come from a very dysfunctional family, he had been in trouble with the law from an early age; however, this was the young man’s first crime as an adult.

The would-be victims were present at the trial and gave testimony. The man and his wife, however, asked the judge to take in consideration the young man’s age and his potential for rehabilitation. The young man was sentence to 5-10 years for burglary. This was not the end of the story. The man and his wife whose home the young burglar had broken into visited and befriend the young man during his incarceration.

When the young man came up for parole, the man whom the young man had attempted to rob told the probation board that he was willing to give the young parolee a job in his construction company. The young felony was released on probation to a halfway house and went to work with his intended victim’s construction company. The young man eventually completed his GED and got an Associate’s Degree at the community college in welding and sheet metal fabrication.

The young man became a successful part of his victim’s construction company and eventually opened his own business, married, had three kids all of whom went to college and became professional people.

The would-be victims did the right thing—the legal thing--but they also went beyond the right thing to do the Christ thing.

Tradition has it that Philemon eventually freed Onesimus and according to Ignatius in his Letter to the Ephesians, Onesimus became bishop of the church in Ephesus, “a man of inexpressible love…”.